Remembering The Light Of Thomas Kincade

At left, Stonehouse Winery Winemaker Mitch Shultz, Maarit Shultz, Nannette and Thomas Kincade at the White House Tree Lighting Ceremony, Dec. 1, 2004.

We are overwhelmed by the recent and sudden passing of our close friend Thomas Kincade; especially for his four daughters, as he loved his family dearly. We first met Thom in 2003 and I was honored to be his friend. We traveled together extensively and enjoyed many laughs and good times.

The Thom I knew was more than a "Painter of Light." Kind-hearted, easy-going; a dedicated family man; Thom was aware of his strengths and weaknesses. His love of Christ clearly inspired him and he accomplished his vision of helping bring joy into people's lives and homes through his art. It was important to him that folks from all walks of life could enjoy his work.

I remember observing Thom's incredible talent and skills. firsthand, in our travels together to Mackinac Island, Charleston, SC and Lake Tahoe, where he sketched and painted some of his most notable work. It was nothing short of amazing to see him in action, and in many private moments, he shared his biggest joy; inspiring people through his art.

My wife Maarit and I will always remember and feel honored to have been able to join Thom and Nannette in our Nation's Capitol in 2004 for Thom's lighting of our Nation's Christmas Tree, presided over by President George W. and Laura Bush. Thom, we thank you for the light of your friendship. You are sorely missed. May you rest in peace.

A Wine And Chocolate Love Affair

Since February 14th falls on a Tuesday this year, we decided, why not celebrate it early with a love match tasting featuring two of our very favorite things -- wine and chocolate.

If you stop in at the Stonehouse Winery Tasting Room on Saturday and/or Sunday, February 11-12, you will find both wine and chocolate freely flowing from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., our way of providing our customers with a prequel Valentine's Day treat.

Featured sweets will include our flowing Chocolate Fountain and an array of chocolates that you can enjoy in tandem with samplings of our current wines. Too, there will be special discounts on both our Stonehouse Heritage Dessert Wine and Muscat Blanc.

If you and your Sweetheart (and/or your sweet-tooth) are going to be in the neighborhood, by all means, come by. Cheers!

Post-Harvest & Winter Holiday Tidings

Our long, arduous Crush 2011 took us within 11 days of Thanksgiving (and we are still plenty busy in the cellar)! When asked what the biggest challenge was this year I would definitely say holding back from "panic picking" while coaxing the late-season rain-dampered fruit into finally delivering enough sugars to ensure us a proper vintage.

Even with all this year's bizarre weather, our Cabernet Sauvignon came it at 24, Muscat Blanc 23 and Petit Sirah at 23.2 Brix. As far as early stand-outs are concerned, both the Cab and the Petit Sirah appear to be of particularly high quality with Ph and acids in balance and promising bright-dark colors.

As I write this, all the 2011 wines are now completed primary fermentation and going through maloactic fermentation in barrel. Our Cabernets always undergo an extended maceration, up to 4 weeks after the completion of primary fermentation. As every year, I blended up a bevy of various yeast strains as well a malolactic bacteria to add complexity to our wines.

Although the cellar elves are quite busy with all of this, we are also working towards shortly releasing 3 new vintages in the coming weeks, although probably not quite in time for the winter holidays (we'll keep you posted on our progress). They are our:

• 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from our Shultz Family Estate Vineyards, our flagship wine

• 2010 Tempranillo featuring Stonehouse Estate fruit (which we will be barrel tasting on Saturday, December 3, in case you're in the neighborhood!)
  

• Our latest batch of Mikayla's Cuvée (a rich blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Syrah, Barbera and Temparnillo) that is absolutely outstanding.
  

In fact, I believe our new red blend may well be the best wine I have made to date. The work I put into this wine is a true reflection of the love and devotion I have for my little girl "Mikayla," who truly inspires me to go all out while making this wine. (I spent hours putting it together and it is now in the tank, in preparation for bottling. We will be sampling this wine as well at our Holiday Open House on December 3.)

I hope you will come on by soon and toast to the spirit of the season with us. Cheers to the Holidays ahead!

Crush 2011 Preview

By Mitch Shultz, Stonehouse Winery Co-Founder and Winemaker

Great News! At the onset, Harvest 2011 appears to be a very good year with respect to quality and balance between acids and Phs in the fruit. Our vineyard is approximately 14 to 20 days behind last year’s harvest date, so we will be harvesting our estate Tempranillo, Petit Sirah and Muscat within the next 7 to 10 days.

The fruit is exceptional this year. Our vineyard was unaffected by the rare summer hail and heavy rain that has been problematic for many vineyards in the area. We also managed to avoid damage from the late frost that also affected several other vineyards close by. The phenolic profiles on all of our varietals are riper and we have lower sugar levels as compared to last year’s fruit at this time. We are anticipating a heavy crop of approx 5 tons per acre in all varietals. All of the varietals seeds are firm and golden brown, which is what a winemaker looks for as a sign the fruit is fully mature and ready for harvesting.

The 3 varietals on the winery property will be harvested and processed all in one day. It will be an 18-hour day but necessary. The Cabernet located on my ranch in El Dorado County will be a huge job, as we will harvest approx 65 tons of fruit. That harvest will take place on or about October 7.

Our aim is to process the fruit within 8 hours of picking. I have 2 cellar helpers assist during harvest and crush as well as up to 25 pickers, so as to get the fruit off the vines and processed at the winery in a timely fashion.

For those who like to follow the numbers:

Tempranillo is at 26 brix and the Ph is currently 3.6
Petit Sirah is at 22.5 brix and the Ph is currently 3.4
Muscat Blanc is at 23 brix and the Ph is currently 3.37
Cabernet Sauvignon is at 23.5 brix and the Ph is currently 3.52

Note: "Brix" is the scale of measurement that winemakers use to describe the sugar content of grapes. It refers to the weight of the sugars contained in the grape or soluble solids per 100g of liquid. I typically look for a range from 23.5 to 26.0 degree Brix. Example:  a grape harvested at 24 Brix will yield a finished wine of approx 13.9% Alcohol.

During the Wine Fest Weekend (October 1-2), we may be in the middle of harvesting grapes, which would create a real show on the winery crush pad between processing fruit and performing pump overs on our various wine lots. If that happens, expect some frenetically ad libbed choreographic attempts on my part to join the Tasting Room staff’s more finely tuned efforts during the Big Crush Weekend festivities. Here’s to the Harvest ahead -- Cheers!